The dangers of ‘natural’ foods

The “all natural” label is all over the supermarket, but many products bearing such a stamp – oats, corn chips, fruit cups and other fare – often contain things we would never call natural: pesticides, genetically modified ingredients, chemical preservatives and more.

Since no agency currently polices how the “natural” label is applied to processed foods, the “natural” label means nothing when it comes to how food is produced, how nutritious it is, or whether its ingredients were sprayed with pesticides, heated or cooled, or pasteurized or irradiated, or genetically changed.

Why should we care about this? Because much of what is found on grocery shelves are foods so processed you would not recognize them anymore, and chemicals with names so complicated and long you can’t pronounce them. Anyone who has eaten a farm-fresh organic peach or grapefruit can taste the difference between food that’s been genetically altered and sprayed with chemicals, and food that is free of both. But it’s not all about taste.

So, how can you protect yourself and your family?

First, read the labels. Be skeptical of any package that has “natural” stamped on it and instead look for foods that are organic. The “organic” label is strictly enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which ensures that the foods have not been genetically engineered, sprayed with certain pesticides, raised with certain fertilizers or treated with ionizing radiation.

If you don’t know whether a fruit or vegetable is organic, then avoid ones likely to contain high levels of pesticide residue. Strawberries are the worst offenders. Next on the list are apples, nectarines, peaches, celery, grapes, cherries, spinach, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers and cucumbers. If you buy these foods, remember to wash them well to clean off the pesticides.

Fortunately, several non-organic fruits and vegetables, especially those with a thick peel to remove before eating, tend to have low levels of pesticides. These include avocados, pineapples, cabbage, onions, asparagus, mangoes, papayas, kiwi, eggplant, frozen sweet peas, melons and cauliflower.

Otherwise, don’t raise your blood pressure too much by fretting over whether every apple you eat is organic and whether every kernel of corn is free of genetic tinkering. Having a small amount of the least offensive foods is probably OK – our bodies are resilient machines that can adapt and tolerate a good deal.

Whenever possible, choose foods the way they are found in nature, and try your best to be an informed eater. If you do things right most of the time, then you are giving yourself a head start. It’s like that other old, familiar adage: “Eat all things in moderation.”

Steve Bernardi is a registered compounding pharmacist at Johnson Compounding & Wellness in Waltham (www.naturalcompounder.com). Readers with questions about natural or homeopathic medicine, compounded medications, or health in general can email steve@naturalcompounder.com or call 781-893-3870.